‘Selfless’ Lion desperate to prove his fitness

Lions ruckman Oscar McInerney has praised “selfless” teammate Jack Payne as the key defender races against the clock to prove his fitness for Brisbane’s do-or-die finals affair with the GWS Giants on Saturday night.

With injury ruining his finals campaign last year, Payne is desperate to overcome a knee problem that forced him off in the second quarter of Brisbane’s weekend elimination final win over Carlton at the Gabba.

Having received encouraging scan results, Payne trained with his teammates at Springfield on Tuesday wearing a knee brace.

He was restricted to jogging and handball drills; however, the Lions are keen to give him every chance to play at Engie Stadium this weekend against a Giants side that includes star forward and Coleman medallist Jesse Hogan.

“Jack, he’s a hulking man, and I know he’s going to give it absolutely everything,” McInerney said.

“You could tell on Saturday night (at the Gabba), the incredible, selfless person he was.

“At halftime, things weren’t going well for him, but he was still buzzing around, and you wouldn’t have even know he was injured.

“He was getting the boys up, and I’m sure footy fate will reward him and he’ll train really well over the next couple of days.”

McInerney, who will make is 150th AFL appearance this weekend, will relish his own battle with Giants’ “old school” ruckman Kieren Briggs.

“I’ve never actually crossed paths with Kieren over our journey so far, but I’ve actually loved watching him,” the 30-year-old big man said.

“The one thing I love about rucking is the ruck craft, and he’s one of the best ones.

“He uses his body so well. He protects that drop zone so strong and gets after it.

“He’s old school, and you can tell that big (former Geelong, Sydney and GWS ruckman) Shane Mumford is his ruck coach because they’re very similar in the way they follow up and create a path for their midfielders.

“I’m really excited for that challenge because he’s had a fantastic two years and been a really big reason why they’re having such good clearance dominance.”

McInerney won’t take a backwards step in the battle, admitting that “white line fever” sometimes overcomes him.

“Most blokes out there are wearing a mask on game day, and that’s good fun putting it on and that competitive outlet you get for 2½ hours,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s hard to look at the footage when you look back the day after and wonder who that bloke is, but I love playing footy, and that’s part and parcel of it.”

The Giants have beaten Brisbane twice this season, with the Lions wary of the “orange tsunami” that awaits them on Saturday night.

“They do all sides of the ball really well. That’s one thing we know about the Giants. Their contest is really strong, and then they can get it out to the guys that move the ball really well,” McInerney said.

“We know about the ‘orange tsunami’, about how well they can go end-to-end, so it’s bread and butter basics against really quality sides like that.

“You’ve just got to be able to try to match them at the contest, which is what they do so well.”